What are PDC cutters made from?
What are PDC cutters made from?
A PDC cutter (Polycrystalline Diamond Compact) is the heart and soul of a PDC drill bit. It is widely used for mining, geothermal, oil, and gas drilling. The invention of the PDC cutter propelled the fixed cutter to the forefront of the drilling industry and the idea instantly took off. Because the shearing action of PDC cutters is more efficient than the crushing action of a button or tooth bit, fixed cutters are in high demand.
Construction of PDC cutter
A PDC cutter consists of two parts, the diamond table, and the substrate.
The thin disc at the top is the diamond responsible for removing the rock. Diamond is one of the hardest materials on earth. The larger portion below is the metal tungsten carbide alloy that is responsible for securing the cutter to the drill bit. PDC cutters come in many sizes, shapes, and forms. The most common are the cylindrical planar type ( also called flat type)
Recommended by LinkedIn
Synthetic Diamond
Natural diamonds can be found in the earth’s crust and require high pressure, heat, and time to form. For the last 125 years methods have been discovered to create a synthetic diamond. Because natural diamonds are difficult to form and take a long time, they are too expensive, and costly for industrial application, in this case, synthetic diamonds have played a great role in the industry.
Cubic press
In order to make a PDC cutter, diamond grit is placed in a small canister placed in a press. The most common press machine is called a cubic press standing 9 feet tall and weighing 40 tons. The cubic press uses 6 anvils which converge to create pressures higher than 1,000,000 PSI. A catalyst is added before pressing to help speed up the synthetic process. The catalyst is usually cobalt. The diamond will sit in this heated and pressed state for several minutes, whilst diamond-to-diamond bonds are created.
Zzbetter offers different types of PDC cutters to meet the different requirements for all kinds of formations.
Welcome to contact us at Irene@zzbetter.com for samples.
For more info, please visit: www.zzbetter.com